A Happy Family with Never-Ending Laughter
by Yojimbra
Summary: In order to give Eri the home she needs Eraserhead seeks help from the one person he can't stand. Ms. Joke. A life filled with constant laughter might just be what Eri needs. She is so screwed. EraserJoke.
1. Chapter 1

"She exhibits anti-social behaviors." The social worker said pulling at the tie that was far to tight on his body, his enormous bear-like frame, stretching the suit to its absolute limits while the small child-sized chair he was using managed to support his bulk. In nearly any other room he'd dominate the space, but in a room made for children 'teddy' was simply gargantuan.

Shota could only image how uncomfortable the man was based on his own growing pain. The chair was too small forcing his knees up and the table far to low to be of any practical use for any normal sized person. But it wasn't a room for adults. It was for children.

A room that had been cleared specifically for them by the daycare while they talked about his charge.

Eri.

"Within the first fifteen minutes of play time she growled at two other children that wanted to play with her. She showed no interest in any of the activities, opting instead to stare out the window and poke her horn. During snack time she ate only an apple and the sandwich crust that other children had removed, despite having her own lunch." The bear removed his glasses that were several sizes too small for his massive frame and folded them with grunt. "I spoke to the staff and they confirmed this is not just an off day for Eri."

The bear righted himself, bulking up his massive frame. "Mr. Aizawa, I'm well aware of your status as a hero and as a teacher at U.A. however, I must focus on what is best for the children I am assigned to. And as Eri's legal guardian you are expected to provide for her." Teddy pinched his nose and snorted into something close to a sigh. "I'm forced to ask how Eri's home life is."

"It's in the file," this whole meeting was nothing but a waste of time, they could groan all they wanted but they couldn't take Eri from them. And she was making progress, it was only here, in this happy hellscape that things were different here. "She spends her day surrounded by future pro heroes."

"Yes, I see that." The frown that was etched into the bear's face was hard to miss. "But I have been in this industry for longer than you have been a hero. I know my field as well as you know your quirk. And the numbers do not lie. Heroes, especially single heroes, make for poor parents."

Teddy snorted, "Some nonsense about protecting their children by distancing themselves or just simply putting the greater good first. It's almost like they forget that children are that greater good and future they seek to protect."

It was a fair statement. Several of his own students that were legacies were just now recovering emotionally. "You're aware-"

"I'm aware of many things ," the bear shuffled the papers. "From Eri's history, redacted though it was, the importance you and several of your students place on her, and the fact that she is under U.A.'s protection, it is for those reasons that I have continued to give you the benefit of the doubt. However, should her situation not improve, I will make certain that she is removed from your protection."

"Oh," he blinked, his eyes feeling dry as he looked out the window to see Eri standing next to the door wearing her back-pack and just waiting for him. She wasn't talking to the other kids, she wasn't doing anything. He didn't want to lose her. "What should I do?"

"As sexist as it is to say in this day and age, she might need a woman's touch."

XXXX

"Thanks, dad!" Eri mumbled bouncing in her seat eagerly eyeballing the plain peanut butter and banana sandwich he made her for dinner. It wasn't the best dinner, and she got it more often than he cared to admit. But it was easy and she liked it. She hummed taking her first bite, all smiles and cheer now that she was home.

It was so strange, Eri was so bright and cheerful when she was at U.A. especially compared to when she first arrived here, perhaps it was his fault for pushing her into the daycare too early. She could barely socialize with the students here, only trusting Mirio, Nejire, and Izuku really. But that was why he wanted to get her into preschool, that was the environment she needed to be in to learn to socialize.

Not stuck alone with him. No doubt she learned to growl at people from him.

Additionally, both Mirio and Nejire were graduating within the month and Izuku was training harder than most to master his quirk. The aftermath of him and Katsuki going at it were scattered all around the training course All Might used. It wasn't fair to ask them any of them to spend extra time with Eri just to try and socialize her.

Maybe that social worker was right.

"I'm," He paused, every time she called him dad, he wanted to correct her. It was Nejire's fault, apparently, they all watched Lion king together and she put the idea in Eri's head. It stuck. And he couldn't bring himself to unstick it. He was just Eri's legal guardian. He sat down across from her taking a bite of his own sandwich. "You need to not growl at the other kids."

The smile the sandwich had put on her face vanished and she looked at her plate, shifting in her seat. "I know. But, but, they wouldn't leave me alone."

"Why did you want to be left alone?"

Eri shrugged, "I dunno."

Typical six-year-old response. "I'll talk to the teachers, if you ever want to just be alone you can just ask them, so no more growling okay?"

"Mmkay." Maybe it was the fact that she was with kids two years younger than her and not her own age. But what was two years? He could barely tell the difference between the first years and third years.

Why was he the one looking after her again? He wasn't even technically qualified to teach students.

"Dad," Eri spoke softly, the crumbs of her sandwich sat on her plate. "I'm done."

"Okay, you can go play, or watch T.V."

She nodded hopping off her chair and waddled over to him, hugging him around the waist. Right. That was why. Emotional attachment.

"I'll be in there in an hour to read you a story and send you to bed." At the very least he knew how to do things like that. Even if all the characters he made sounded grumpy. "So make sure you pick out a good one."

"Mmmkay!" She half stumbled half ran into her room.

An hour would give him some time to think, a bit of time to breath and try to figure out this problem. It was the worst kind of problems, the kind that he couldn't deal with on his own. He needed help, he needed someone he could trust.

"Shit," he swore grabbing at his phone and flipping through the small list of contacts. It seemed like even All Might had a bigger network than he did despite how introverted and mysterious he tried to be. The pool of women that he knew and trusted was already small, and many of them were just ill-suited to what Eri would need. Whatever that was.

Old acquaintances like Haruno were to busy. Midnight had her own relationships and was not exactly the type of women he wanted around Eri more than necessary. That left him with his best last chance. Letting out a breath he paused dread falling over him as he stared at his contact.

Joke. He didn't even have her number on his phone so he could talk to her. He had it on there so he could know not to pick it up. Sure she didn't call him often, and she only prank called him once, but it was better safe than sorry. Still, Joke was many things that he was not, she was energetic, sociable, great with kids of all ages, and a woman.

No, there had to be somebody else. Anybody else. He had to know somebody that could help him with Eri and leave his own sanity intact.

Fuck.

There wasn't.

Joke had all the right qualifications. He could trust her. Hell, she was one of the few people that he would trust with his own life - she might be his emergency contact for the school - as much as he'd hate to admit it. It was worth a chance. He could bear Joke if she was what Eri needed.

And Joke wasn't always so bad if he asked she might tone it down.

He selected her contact and opened it up in messenger.

"Joke, I want to have a serious talk. No jokes."

The notification that she had seen it popped up, followed by dots showing that she was typing.

"Give me five minutes!"

He half expected her to respond with a joke about her name being Joke and he said no jokes, he took that as a positive sign. Besides, Joke was a teacher now, she could clearly be responsible when she needed to be.

He got halfway to the sink to do the dishes when there was a rhythmic knocking on the door.

"What now?" He half growled, if one of his students did something stupid again then he was going to scream. Except not really. Unless it was Izuku growing another quirk out of his ass. Maybe the kid's quirk wasn't actually super strength but he had a quirk that let him grow new quirks. He was half surprised such a quirk didn't exist already.

Opening the door he saw not one of his students, but Joke.

"Sup," She waved at him, her breath was heavy as she rested an arm on the door frame like she had been there the whole time. She wasn't dressed in her usual attire, rather she was wearing a suit a black suit that was fit and tailored to her. The undershirt was a clean white, and the only thing that stuck out as remotely Joke like was the yellow tie that was covered in smiley faces. She winked at him, her green hair free from her usual orange bandana. "You called?"

"I texted." He corrected stepping inside to let her in. "And I meant over the phone, what are you even doing here?"

"Oh," Her face flushed, as she took the first few steps inside. Her eyes grew wide as she soaked in his living space in the U.A. dorms. It was larger than the rooms his students got, larger still with the addition of Eri's room, but he had his own living room, kitchen, office, bathroom, and bedroom.

"Wow, this is the first time I've been inside your apartment," she spun around arms spread out wide as she looked into the kitchen. "I was honestly expecting something a bit less normal. Like a pile of trash, or maybe like six cats."

"Joke." He groaned. This was already a mistake. Just talking to her was making him ready to go to sleep. "Why are you here and what's with the outfit."

"What?" she tugged at her jacket looking down at it. "Can't a girl dress up for once? If you must know I had an interview nearby and was walking home when you messaged me." She shrugged taking an exaggerated step into his kitchen. "And since you said - oh banana - you wanted to have a serious talk I decided I'd give you the chance to confess your love to me in person."

Joke emerged from the kitchen, her tie already half undone as she had a peeled banana in one hand snacking on it like she was a monkey.

"I also said no jokes." He rolled his eyes, walking over to the kitchen table and placing his head in his hands.

"Who said I was Joking?" Joke took the seat across from him, eyeing Eri's half empty straw cup. She crossed her legs, showing off her flats. "Whose cup is this? I knew you liked cats but not hello kitty."

"That's Eri's," he sighed sitting back up. "She's who-"

"Whose Eri?" Joke raised an eyebrow taking another bit of the banana, fishing it off and tossing the peel over her shoulder. It landed on the trash in a useless display of skill.

"She's-"

"Dad?" Eri came running out from the hallway hugging him around the waist again and pressing a book to his chest. "It's almost story time. I want this one."

Joke's eyes went wide, both hands covering her mouth as she stared at Eri and then at him. Her smile grew, peeking out from behind her hands as she watched in relative silence.

"Okay, I'll be in there soon." He placed a hand on Eri's back and took the book from her. Some It was some children's book that Izuku had gotten her, she picked it few days since they started doing bedtime stories. "Can you get ready for bed on your own? I need to talk to a friend?"

Eri turned to look at Joke, her eyes growing wide and she took a step back. Still not used to new people.

"Hi," Joke's voice was surprisingly soft as she slid from the chair like it was never there. Her hand extended halfway out towards Eri, palm opened towards the ceiling and a large pleasant smile on her face. "I'm Emi, I'm a friend of your dads. What's your name?"

"Eri," Eri half whispered still clutching onto his shirt.

Joke's smile turned into one of shock. "Wow! Our names are really similar aren't they? An Eri and Emi, isn't that neat? Hey," Joke took a half waddle forward, still crouching just above the ground, her hands now firmly placed on her knees. "What do you call a dinosaur that is sleeping?"

Eri shrugged, her red eyes transfixed on Joke.

"A dino-snore!" Joke gave herself a small snort of a laugh.

He resisted the urge to groan until he heard Eri's soft laugh.

"That's silly," Eri stomped her feet, smiling a bit as her grip on his shirt lessoned.

"How do you talk to a giant?" Joke stomped on the ground one foot at a time like she was some lumbering hulk, hands spread out to the side.

"By yelling?" Eri asked also stomping.

"No, you use big words!"

Eri laughed again, her tongue sliding out from her teeth, a big smile on her face. It had been a while since she had smiled like that. And Joke had done it in less than five minutes with two jokes that made his heart weep. And she did it without using her quirk. She wasn't just his last and only option, she was probably the best he could have asked for.

"Alright," Joke extended her hand out to Eri, this time she took it, and a ginger handshake was shared between the two. "It's nice to meet you Eri, do you want me to help your dad read you your story?"

"That-" he began.

"Yes please," Eri nodded her head enthusiastically. That sparkle in her eyes silenced his protests.

"Then go get ready!" Joke pulled her lips showing off her absolutely immaculate teeth. "And make sure to brush your smile bones!"

"Kay!" Eri, spun on her heel bolting towards the bathroom.

"I haven't seen her that excited to brush." He muttered when Eri vanished into the bathroom pulling the door behind her shut. "How'd you do it?"

"You just need to know the trick," Joke stood to brush her knees as she took her seat back.

"I'm not good with kids," he admitted running a hand through his hair, it was greasy enough to remind him he needed to shower.

Joke shrugged, pulling one leg up into her lap to pop off one of her flats, that really should have come off at the door. "You're not good anything living." she pulled off her other shoe, haphazardly tossing them towards his door. "Except maybe cats, but you're basically a cat so it works out."

"Fair."

"Okay, but seriously," Joke's face went firm and she pointed a hand at him her eyes sharp and focused on him. She was about to say something stupid. "When was I pregnant with our child and why don't I remember it? Especially the part where we had what I assume was mind blowing s-"

"Joke-" he stressed, feeling the growing headache that

"Fine, but where's Eri from? I know she's not actually yours." Joke rested her head on her hand finger scratching her cheek. "For so many reasons. But I never really took your for the fatherly type."

"Eri is a special case," he said softly folding his hands on the table. "She has a unique quirk, one that I need to keep an eye on. But beyond that, I'm now her legal guardian, and she-"

"She's wormed her way into your heart hasn't she?" Joke smiled, before clicking her teeth in mock anger. "Darn, I'm jealous of a five year old."

She wasn't wrong.

"Is she why you needed to talk to me?" Joke sat back up straight, looking him dead in the eyes, the intensity she had that made her useful in the field and a fantastic teacher flared up in her eyes. He had never doubted her abilities and drive as a hero, she gave her all to everything. He just wished she didn't do it with her jokes, pranks, and general ability to be an annoyance.

He nodded. "Yea, it's like you said, I'm not good with people, let alone kids. She's anti-social at day-care, has problems listening and just doesn't engage. And," he sighed, the words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know what they were. "I don't know how to help her. But I think that you'd help."

"You're aware that I'm a teacher and that we work the same hours," Joke pointed between the two of them her smile growing. "And that in order to spend time with Eri I'll be also spending time with you?"

"I know." He placed his hands on the table staring her in the eyes. "But I need your help."

"Alright, I'll do it." She waved her hand like it was no big deal.

"Really?" he perked up sitting straight in his seat, eyebrow raised at her. "You're not going to try and get something out of this?"

She snorted crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Really Eraser? Who do you think I am? You asked for my help and you're my -" She held a finger up spinning it about as she tried to find the right word. "Friend, so I'm going to help you. Besides, Eri's cute, and I get to have an excuse to see you every single day."

Oh god, he hadn't thought about that.

"And I do expect you to feed me every so often while I'm here helping you take care of Eri." Joke's smile grew two sizes as she stood, pulling on his arm and grabbing the story from the table. "Now come on, you can be the princess, I'll be the prince."

**AN: I saw fanart. I needed to write it. Now I have this. **


	2. Chapter 2

Something was wrong. Something was very very wrong.

Shota shifted in his bed, shuffling his face from the stubborn ray of light that was currently blinding him. His room was still, just as still as he left it, his alarm clock was silent, and Eri wasn't bothering him for food. Something was very wrong with all of this.

He hasn't been woken up by the sun in years. With a grunt he sat up from his bed, feeling well rested. When was the last time he had actually slept in? More importantly, where was Eri, she-

Two sets of laughter echoed through the walls and into his room. One he knew far to well, it was Joke's laugh, the second was higher in pitch, and a bit louder. It was Eri's? Was that what Eri's laughter sounded like? That was a good sign.

His feet hit the cold floor and he glared at his alarm clock. It wasn't just off and not working, it was unplugged. He should have checked it last night. He knew taking his eyes off Joke for two seconds was a mistake, but then again, it was just Sunday, his day off, so no harm done. Aside from his personal space being invaded.

Another bout of laughter came from his living room. He should probably see what they were doing.

He yawned opening the door and stepped out into the small living room - dining room combo he had been given, there on the floor - not the couch - Eri was sitting in her Pajama's a bowl of colorful cereal was sitting in her lap and a bit of milk was dripping from her chin.

And right next to her - also in her pajamas - was Joke, with her own bowl of cereal in her lap though there was no milk on her chin. Instead of her usual orange bandana, she instead had an orange sleep cap that was keeping her messy green hair back. Both her and Eri were staring at T.V. as some cartoon played.

Joke saw him first, nodding at him with the spoon in her mouth and focusing back on the T.V. with Eri.

"How did you get in?" That seemed like the best question to ask, considering how she had only been helping with Eri for the past three days, and he did not remember giving her a house key.

"Good morning to you to sleepy head!" Joke's smile only grew. "Grab a bowl of cereal, pull up some floor and join us, the good cartoons about to start." She gestured towards the T.V. with a half full spoon, not spilling a drop as she flung it about. "And Eri let me, told her if she woke up before you did and let me in it would be like a sleep-over."

"And that's why you're in pajamas?" He asked pinching his nose and heading towards the kitchen. The box of Cereal that Joke had brought over was as colorful as could be and was basically just pure sugar. Without another word he dumped it into the trash, still glaring at Joke as he went about making his own breakfast. Toast. Sitting in the corner were two overstuffed bags that belong to Joke, was she moving in?

"Well, yea," Joke slurred food still in her mouth. "How else are we supposed to watch Sunday morning cartoons?"

"Yea!" Eri gurgled, more milk spilling onto her chin and onto her shirt. "Oop"

At least she sounded happy.

"And why was my alarm clock unplugged?"

"I told Eri to unplug it so you could get some sleep!" Joke smiled like the devil on Eri's shoulder.

"Did you sleep, good Dad?" Eri smiled like the angel on Joke's shoulder.

The worst had come. The corruption was setting in. He knew this would happen. This was why Joke was a mistake. He stared at Eri, finding it hard to frown at her more than her usual glower. And sighed. Maybe the corruption was what she needed. "Yes, thank you, but please don't unplug my alarm clock again."

"Kay!" Eri hummed turning back to the T.V. as joke wiped her chin.

He pointed the butter knife in his hand at Joke. "And you, don't teach her any more weird things."

"Kay!" Joke mimicked causing Eri to laugh again.

That was more times than she laughed all last week. As annoying as Joke was Eri's progress in just three days was something to commend. But that was at home when Joke was around, what mattered was how she performed at school with other kids and other adults.

"Hey," Joke slurred, leaning her head back to look at him, "You should hit the shower first! We got a busy day ahead of us!" Her smile grew and she wiggled her eyebrows as her sleeping cap fell to the ground. "Unless you want to share it with me."

"Joke." He growled taking a bite into his toast, glaring at her. She was already walking on thin ice. "Don't-"

"No!" Eri spun turning to look up at Joke. "I want to shower with you Emi!"

"Okay!"

He wanted to groan, so he did. "Okay, I'll take a shower, but what do you have planned today, and do I need to actually be there?"

He actually kind of wanted to go back to bed.

"We're going to the park!" Joke stood, wiping her mouth on her sleeve and grabbing both her and Eri's bowls. Her checkered green pajamas were large on her and looked incredibly comfortable. She looked, well, she didn't look like just Joke at that moment, she looked like something more, something comfortable. And, somehow- She dumped the bowls in the sink and slapped him in the chest. "Hey, you listening?"

"What?" He shook his head snapping out of whatever thought he had. It was almost like he thinking Joke was attractive. Which she was, there was never any doubt about that, but seeing her in comfortable clothes like a set of PJs was just enough to trick him into thinking she might be his type.

Which apparently he had.

"Sheesh, do you need coffee to function in the morning?" She swatted him again and pushed on his shoulder, turning him around and towards the bathroom. "We're going to the park, you're coming, no ands, ifs, or buts. Well, actually there'd be three butts. But that's beside the point. Now, go take a shower and try to look like you're not dead on the inside. Actually, wait, that's why I think you're cute. That and your butt."

"What?"

Before he knew it he was shoved into the bathroom, his toast only half buttered. He took a small bite out of it, staring at himself in the mirror. He was spending far to much time with Joke. Still, it looked good for Eri. And now he was going on some great outdoor adventure with her and Eri. He was losing control of his life.

Joke and Eri were waiting in front of the bathroom when he finished his quick shower, both had a set of clothes in their arms and Joke had a towel over her shoulder.

He hadn't seen Eri this excited to take a shower before, or to do anything really unless Mirio, Izuku, or Nejire were involved.

"How do you do it?" Joke asked him tilting her head to the side as she walked up to examine him. Her face was close. Very close to him. Much closer than she would normally try. But her eyes weren't locked onto his.

"I turn the shower on." He said for no reason and pointed toward the modest bathroom he had. "And then turn it off when I'm clean."

"Ha, I do love your quick retorts." She swatted him on the shoulder again. So touchy. "But no I was talking about your hair like it's already dry enough and it basically looks how it always does." She tugged on one of his strands pulling his head to the side a bit. "It's even longer than mine."

"Don't touch my hair," He swatted her hand away grunting.

"Don't tell me you're secretly bald and you've been wearing a wig the whole time!"

He groaned, but Eri's giggle stopped him from lashing out at her. "Cause you please not teach Eri that it's funny to make jokes at my expense?"

Joke's face twisted up and she stuck her tongue out. "You can't teach funny Eraser, believe me, if it was possible I would have trained a sense of humor into you years ago. Or maybe the reverse. Either way, come on Eri let's get naked!"

"Naked!"

Eri wasn't even trying to not be corrupted by Joke. Maybe he should have asked Nejire to spend more time with her instead, even if the girl was graduating in a few weeks, it had to be better for his sanity than this.

For twenty minutes a constant stream of giggling and splashing bubbled out from his bathroom.

XXXX

The sun was shining, a few clouds loomed in the distances, hugging the coastal horizon as they wandered through a park that took them twenty minutes to get to on foot. The air was just slightly crisp as the last remnants of winter fought desperately against the advance of spring, but it was easily the nicest day that had all year.

If the weather kept until tomorrow he should do some grueling outdoor activity that will leave his students hating him. Actually, even if it didn't keep, especially if it didn't keep.

"So, where are we going?" he half growled, half yawned as they wandered down one of the cement paths that made up the park. It was close enough to U.A. that the crime rate was close to zero as many of the teachers or students would use this park as a running course. As evident by Cementos jogging past them wearing a tracksuit.

A short nod and a raised eyebrow were exchanged. Thankfully Cementos wasn't the gossip type.

He looked back down at Joke who was humming happily, a large tote bag that looked like something she would take to the beach was tucked under her arm. Despite her outgoing personality she often wore conservative clothing that somehow made her stand out even more. It was a plaid orange and green dress-thing-that went down past her knees and had a white long sleeve shirt underneath it, her usual orange bandana was proving rare, as on her head was a beret that matched her outfit.

He never would have taken her as the fashion conscious kind.

"Well," Joke spun in front of him, effortlessly walking backward so she could look him in the eyes. "If I have to pick, then it's a date, and if you pick, then we just end up going home." She looked up at the small human that was riding on his shoulders. "So, why doesn't Eri pick?"

"I get to pick?" Eri asked, leaning forward onto his head, her fingers grabbing giant clumps of his hair and pulling it every which way.

He shrugged, jostling Eri the slightest amount. "Sure, you can pick where we eat."

"Oh!" Eri paused shifting on his head as she looked around the park. He saw her finger appear just inside his peripheral vision. "There, where the duckies are."

"Ohh! I didn't see those!" Joke spun to look at the pound that was hidden among the trees and paths, several trees both waded partway into its shallows and a few severed as living islands, where many of the ducks were gathered. A set of bridged extended across its width, often stopping on islands that ranged from small hills to man-made boxes. "Did you know I speak duck Eri?"

Eri gasped. "You can talk to the duckies?"

"Yep! Listen," Joke took a deep breath, then began to shake her head back in forth while sucking in her lips. The noise was obnoxious and vaguely duck-like. She stopped, a blush on her face as she whipped away a bit of spit from her mouth. "See?"

"I think Donald Duck would scare the duckies away." He turned towards their destination, shifting Eri on his shoulders once more as he took the first few steps on the path.

"Emi Scary," Eri muttered from his head.

"Hey! Wait! You know who Donald Duck is?" Joke bounded up next to him, resuming her spot at his side, looking up at him wide-eyed. "You watch cartoons?"

"When I was a little."

"Woah," Joke paused her mouth wide open. "How come you never told me! I so would have woke you up to watch cartoons with us."

"Please don't."

They settled at a bench that was all but right on the water's edge, it was a fully equipped public use area with a water fountain and bathroom nearby and a grill for barbeque was right next to the table. It seemed like the perfect spot for a family outing. Which was probably what Eri needed.

A playground of sorts was within eyesight, the benches were set up so that they acted as a barrier between the large pound and the playground, probably to enable parents to keep a better eye on their children. If Eri heard the screams and laughter of the children playing over there she didn't care about them.

"Alright Eri," Joke took her from his shoulders and sat her on the ground. "Do you want to try feeding the duckies?"

Eri's eyes went wide and she bounced in her little red boots. "I can feed them?"

"Sure," Joke dug into her back, pulling out some bread as some greens. "Here, you take these and go with your dad while I set up here, but when I call for you that means its lunch time and you have to come over quick right?"

Eri gasped and nodded, sprinting over to him and bouncing off his leg with her hands clutching the food tightly. "Come on dad lets go!"

"Uhh, sure," Eri grabbed at the hem of his shirt, dragging him towards the largest gathering of ducks just off the shore. Once there she tossed a whole piece of bread into the lake and the ducks went after it, devouring it in moments in a frenzy of splashes.

"Easy now," He kneeled down beside her tearing off a piece of the bread and tossing it out to a duck. "Give them a little bit at a time, that way it'll last longer."

"Ohh," Eri's smile grew as she tore off a piece and threw it at a duck, hitting it on the head. The duck quaked and tore at the chunk. "It sounds like Emi!"

Sure.

"Hey dad," Eri tossed a bit of lettuce towards the duck. It floated on the surface for a few seconds before one of the ducks went after it. "Is Emi going to keep spending time with us?"

"Probably." At this point, he wasn't sure if he could get her to stop showing up. "Why?"

"Because it's really fun when she's around." Eri's smile told him that he was stuck with Emi for a long time.

**AN: I can't get the fluff out of my mind. It's fucking wholesome. **


	3. Chapter 3

Why was nobody addressing the Joke shaped elephant in the room?

It was time for their yearly staff meeting just before finals and graduation and the majority of the staff was gathered to discuss their plans for the year going forward. Most of it was basic who does what kind of thing, but some of it was sensitive and for faculty only.

So, why on earth did Joke just walk in chatting with Nemuri like they were best friends and then set directly across from him smiling like she belonged?

Toshinori was his usual useless self that made it hard to remember that he had been the pillar of peace and justice for decades. Hizashi was eyeballing Joke, in a way that made him really want to punch him. And Nezu was just sitting there in a chair that was several sizes too big for him, sipping on tea.

"Alright!" Nezu held up his arm. "Now that, everybody is here we can-"

"Why is she here?" He glared at her, ready to use his quirk if she even tried to use hers on him.

What she did was worse. She smiled at him. It was a soft pleasant smile that had no ill will hidden behind it. Instantly the smile was burned into his mind and would be the last thing he saw when going to sleep. It certainly burned into his cheeks well enough.

"Oh, don't be like that Eraser." Joke's smile grew again and she rested an elbow on the table, her smugness was nearly at lethal levels. Whatever blow she was about to deliver was on that he was not ready for. "We're co- a lot of things now actually."

"What?" He glared at her, before turning his gaze to Nezu. "What?"

"Ms. Fukukado will be joining us as a self-defense teacher for the general course!" Nezu held up one of his paws, his high pitch voice squeaking in the way he thought was cute. It wasn't. "She will also be paving the way for general course students to enter the hero course if they prove themselves such as Hitoshi Shinso did."

"My probationary period with Ketsubutsu was up so I applied here, as well." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "Why do you think I was wearing a suit for an interview five minutes away from your place?" She pulled out a badge from somewhere. "And have security access to come to see Eri all the time?"

She should have been pre-approved. She was, no matter how much it pained him to say, his sole emergency contact. But he should have dug deeper. Now she was his co-worker. Which meant the few hours of time he got to himself each day for grading, eating, and not talking to anybody were now a thing in the past.

He glared at the rat-dog-bear-thing. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"You've known Emi for years, and had a bias, and you were on her reference list." Toshinori nodded from beside him. "That's why you were excluded from the interview process, and according to Hizashi, you did give her a glowing review."

His eye twitched. "When?"

Hizashi struck a dumbass pose and pointed both fingers at him. "I asked you about her a few months ago. You said she was annoying but could be serious when needed, Yea! And that she was a great fighter and teacher. That her students were real Killers! Yea!"

"Yea!" Joke chirped in mimicking, Mic's tone and gestures. Before she held her face in her hands squirming from side to side. "It was so romantic it felt like a confession of love!"

He sunk into his chair, staring up at the ceiling. It was ten in the morning and he wanted to go to sleep. Forever.

"Look at the bright side Eraser, it'll be that much easier for you to see me whenever you want!"

XXXX

"How was your day at Pre-School?" He asked Eri, her small hand clutched around two of his fingers as they made their way back to U.A. It wasn't really rare for her to not receive some form of a mark against her for behavioral reasons. But this was the first week she had gone without receiving one.

"Fun!" Eri skipped beside him, her hand still clutching the unicorn she finger painted that day. "I ate lunch with Mimi today, then we played heroes! And then we finger painted!" Eri's smile was wide. Wider than it had ever been when coming home from Day-care. "Can I show Emi my picture?"

"I'm sure you can show it to her when she shows up next." Especially considering how she was going to be a new teacher at full-time staff at U.A. once the semester started up. Which meant she was going to live at U.A., and he regretted giving her a key so she could better help take care of Eri. "But, she might be busy for a little while so I don't know when she'll be back."

Hopefully between moving, getting used to the job and all the other hassles of life Joke wouldn't be bugging him for a few days.

"Oh," Eri pouted, then bounced right back up. "I'll just show her then!"

"I'll put it somewhere safe then." Wasn't he supposed to put it on the fridge? He needed magnets. "But who's Mimi?"

"She's my friend!" Eri hummed, jumping over a small crack in the cement. "She's five! And she's going to start school soon!"

One week soon.

"Well that's good." At least she finally made a friend and one that was close to her own age as well. "Do you think you want to go to school Eri?"

"Can I go to school with Mimi?"

That was his intent. "If her school isn't too far away. But for that to happen we need to leave a good impression with , so I'm going to need you-" He paused, be what? On her best behavior? What if that changed how she acted? Was that what Joke would say? "I'm going to need you to just be happy and be a good friend to Mimi, okay?"

"Okay!"

He opened the door to their home in the dorms and instantly felt like something was off. Not only was the room temperature high like someone had been inside of it recently, but there were a set of obnoxious shoes tossed haphazardly near the door, and the scent of noodles with a thick sauce filled the air. It was slightly burnt.

"Oh!" He heard Joke's voice sound from the kitchen. Moments later her head poked out from the hallway. She was wearing an orange set of glasses, and her green hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He had never seen her look so not annoying. "You're back sooner than I thought! Don't worry Dinner's almost done!"

Since when did he have a house-wife?

Eri slipped from his fingers and ran towards Joke. "Emi! Look! I made a unicorn! And dad said if I stay happy then I can go to school with Mimi!"

"Woah! That's awesome Eri!" Joke took the drawing in one hand and hugged Eri with the other. "Oh wow, would you look at that, it's horn looks just like yours! I know just where your dad should put this, let me get some tape and we'll stick it on the fridge okay? And hey, you like your ramen noodles crunchy right?"

Well, at least he didn't have to cook tonight.

**AN: Short chapter. Finals. Study. Ahhhhhhhh.**

**Love you bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

Eri didn't own a bra.

And if she did, it certainly wouldn't be one of this size.

Maybe it was Momo's but that possibility seemed too far out there because he really doubted that she would forget a bra in the wash. And that it would be this design. No, the two smiling faces on each cup told him exactly whose bra had ended up his wash.

Joke's.

Somehow holding onto that fabric made him realize something that he should have realized long ago. Joke really had moved in. She had a key to the teacher's dorm he shared with Eri, and spent more time there than she did elsewhere. Sure she went somewhere else to sleep but she was there every morning when Eri woke up, she'd even taken over walking Eri to school on some days.

And today she was even picking Eri up, giving him ample time to clean and do the laundry. Joke could cook - surprisingly well - but her ability to clean was somewhat lacking. It wasn't just that she was lazy, it was more that she didn't really see the mess. That or she just lived in chaos.

The food was worth it. And working with her, as in having her work in the same building as her even if she taught an entirely different group of students than he did had been surprisingly normal. That and when she was silent, wearing her glasses and working on her class she was tolerable, more than tolerable. She was, comfortable.

More than comfortable.

He shook his head and put Joke's bra back into his laundry hiding it under one of his shirts. It was only when and if she was silent.

Once back inside him home he set the basket down, and quickly divided it into three piles, one for himself, one for Eri, and one for the surprisingly large amount of clothes neither one of them owned. Seriously, how did she even sneak this much clothes into his laundry!

The door turned and Joke walked in holding Emi's hand. Joke looked normal enough, she was wearing her usual hero attire that was required of teachers, while Eri had on a white dew rag that kept her hair back. The corruption was starting to have physical manifestations.

"Well go ask him!" Joke laughed letting go of Eri's hand, there was something pleasant about her smile as she deftly took off her shoes. The room instantly felt warmer, more lived in, happier when the two of them showed up.

"Dad dad!" Eri shouted, running over to him, a packet of homework clutched in her hand. "Today something amazing happened! I was playing with Mimi after class and then Mimi's mom showed up she was really nice, and Mimi asked if I could stay the night, and I want to do that but Emi said I had to ask you when I asked her if it was okay, so can I stay the night with Mimi?"

That sounded normal. More than normal.

"I'll have to talk to Mimi's parents, But I think that we could arrange something like that." He placed down one of Eri's shirts as he turned to look at her.

Eri hugged him, placing her head into his chest.

A flash alerted him to Joke taking a picture with her phone. "Wow, Eraser, you should smile like that more often it's super cute! And that's so my new wallpaper."

"Joke," he sighed, glaring at her and not letting Eri see his scowl.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you," She held her phone in her hand, waving the screen at him. "I did meet Mimi's mom and got her contact info with her, let me see your phone and I'll put it in."

"Oh, thanks," He handed her his phone without thinking. And then raised an eyebrow. "Don't do anything weird with it."

"Like what? Discover your stache of cat picks?"

He rolled his eyes and turned back to look at Eri. "How was your day at school? Are you still happy going back to grade school with the other kids?"

"Yea! It's awesome! They really like the jokes that Emi taught me! And the teacher is super nice! I even have a new friend she's called Tomo! Mimi wants her to stay the night too! Oh! And there's this boy in my class! His name is Kota! He said his favorite hero was Deku! Do you think he was talking about Izuku? He had the same red shoes as Izuku!"

He didn't bother to suppress the laugh that bubbled out from him as he patted Eri on the head. "Absolutely, Izuku saved Kota before, you should try talking to him."

"Wah! Really? That's amazing!" Eri flapped her arms and laughed. "Can I go talk to Izuku now?"

"Maybe later he's training right now, why don't you go get ready for dinner?" He looked to Joke, who was already putting her hair into a ponytail. It showed off her nape and just, no, this was still Joke. That's all she'd ever be.

"Kay!" Eri twirled and ran off to her room.

Leaving him alone, with Joke for a few minutes.

He rose, and walked over to her, she was already hard at work in the kitchen, boiling water for something and frying some rice for another thing. It was a thousand times better than the usual stuff he made. And it was a lot better for Eri too. A home-cooked meal eaten at the table with family a book said that was important.

"So, why am I finding a lot of your clothes, in my laundry?" He asked tapping on the counter.

"Because I'm a slob and I leave them in your bathroom," She beamed at him. "The dorms here have amazing water pressure and I just love your shower! Beats my apartment. By a long shot. But really it's not like I left any of my underwear here. I was those myself."

He held up her bra by the clasp and looked at her. "So this isn't yours."

She blinked and her mouth fell open. "What? Oh no, Shota! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to see that." Her frown vanished and in its place was a teasing smile barely covered by her hand. "At least not without me wearing them."

"Stop making jokes like that." He sighed, tossing her bra back onto her pile. "Just give me a warning, I'm fine with washing your clothes, and you using my shower."

"Oh, awesome, so when can I move in?"

Exasperation hit like a wave and he turned to grab his phone off the table. "I'm going to call Mimi's parents."

He stopped when he saw that his home screen had changed from the stock image it came with to one of Eri and Joke smiling at him. He didn't bother to change it. The only reason being was that he didn't care and that he didn't feel like learning how to change the background. That was the only reason why he didn't change the background.

XXXX

"Goodnight Dad! Goodnight Emi," Eri whispered sinking deeper into the covers of her bed. A soft smile on her face as they finished her nightly story.

"Aww, good night Eri," Joke whispered pushing a bit of Eri's hair out of the way and kissing the girl on the forehead. "Tomorrow we'll pack your bag so you can have fun at Mimi's alright?"

"Kay!"

"Remember to call me or Joke if you need anything, we have the address so we can be there quick." He patted her on the head and ruffled her hair. "Goodnight Eri."

She grabbed his hand. "Wait, Dad, can you kiss me like Emi does?"

He shot Joke a glare when she snickered at him before leaning down and kissing Eri on the forehead. "Goodnight Eri."

They left the room and turned the lights off leaving Eri to her sleep.

"If you think about it," Joke took a few steps and stumbled over to the door, smiling at him bright enough that he almost forgot how annoying she was. Almost. That damn smile. "We basically just shared an indirect kiss."

"Please don't use Eri for a joke like that." He headed towards the kitchen, he was going to need something to drink if he wanted this headache to leave.

"Fine, fine, I'll catch you bright and early Eraser." She laughed opening the door.

Thunder cracked and he could hear the rain slam against the window as they became aware of the storm that had come in earlier. It sounded rough.

"Uhh, Shota, do you mind if I stay here tonight? I'd" Thunder sounded again and she twitched. "I don't like storms."

"You're not joking right now?"

She nodded firmly.

"I'll pull out a futon for you. You probably have a change of clothes here if you want to take a shower." He scratched the back of his head and sighed. Now she really was staying the night. Still, for someone like her to be afraid of a little bit of thunder. He probably should have known she'd be weird about something like that.

Once everything was set he turned on the T.V. to check the weather. No doubt Eri would be absolutely delighted to find out that Joke had stayed the night. He was half tempted to wake her up and tell her but she had school in the morning. And she'd probably.

"Thanks again Shota," Joke walked out from the bathroom, her green hair was down and laid flat against her shoulders, her usual dew rag was absent, leaving her with a simple look with her hair down. Add to that the simple plain shirt that was probably two sizes too big for her and the grey sweat pants that hung loosely on her and he felt his heart stop.

And then it did some weird stuff when it started beating again. Like thinking that Joke was actually really really attractive.

"Yea," He said, sitting down on the couch, and watching her as best he could.

Joke yawned and walked over to join him on the couch. "Quit staring at me like that I'm not going to use my quirk on you in your own home. Besides, if I make you laugh I want it to be because you think I'm funny."

She slammed down onto the couch and let out another yawn. Why was her yawn so cute? "Maybe I should try dressing up as a made and being all clumsy around you. Heh, maybe that'll even be your fetish. I can even put on cat ears."

His eye twitched. Not out of annoyance. "Hey, Joke?"

"Hmm?" She blinked, half laying on the couch, half sitting on it.

"Why do you keep joking around about being in a relationship with me?"

"Who says I'm joking?"

"You are."

"Nah, that's only when you turn me down," she popped her neck and sat back up, he had seen her in a new light these past few months, but right now she looked so calm. "But really the reason why I always joke around like that with you, and only you, should be obvious. I really do like you Shota."

"Oh, why?"

"Hmm," She rested her head on her knee and smiled at him. "How about we talk about this tomorrow? Eri might not be here, but I'd still like to hang out."

He found it impossible to say no to that soft, tired and completely calm smile.

"Sure, I don't think I'd mind that too much." He stood from the couch and scratched the back of his head. "See you in the morning, Joke."

"Oh, but you have to call me Emi."

"Sure, Emi."

**AN: I love Eraser Joke, I need to write more of it. **


	5. Chapter 5

Being alone with Joke had been nice. She was calmer than he remembered, more muted like she was more at ease and just enjoying the relative silence. With Eri gone for the night, he thought that he'd be annoyed. But, if anything it was the Opposite. He found her soft, calm, quiet jokes to be actually humorous and even brought a smile to his face.

But that was because he wasn't really dealing with Joke right now. This was Emi. A fact that he had to keep reminding himself of.

Joke emerged from the shower, dressed in that oh so alluring casual wear that he couldn't help but stare at. She just looked so comfortable. It was just a simple t-shirt the design all but faded and a pair of sweatpants that did little to flatter her figure.

"I made you some tea," He gestured towards the cup next to his. He sat forward on the couch, half ready to stand up and half ready to lay down and fall asleep.

"Thanks." Joke mumbled, pulling up her legs under her as she sat next to him. She blew on the cup and then took that first sip, it earned a groan from her as she smiled softly. "You make really good tea by the way."

"Well, you made a good dinner, it's the least I can do." He sat back on the couch, the noise of the T.V. falling on deaf ears. "But is everything okay? You seem more subdued today."

"Just nervous." She muttered into her cup, her green eyes locking onto his as her smile grew. "You're basically forcing me to confess to you tonight."

"Don't you do that every time we meet?"

"In a way I do. But like you always said I was mostly joking. Sure if you ever said yes I would have started to stammer and blush like one of our students, and then question who you are and what you've done with Eraser." She took another sip of her tea, her eyes focused on the liquid. "But my feelings aren't a joke, I really do like you and stuff."

How articulate. He placed an arm on the back of his couch still keeping his eyes locked on Emi. He didn't know why she liked him. He couldn't think of a single reason why he'd been pretty much constantly annoyed by her sense they first met. So, why did she like him? He needed to know. "But why?"

Emi shrugged a soft hum coming from her mouth that could barely be heard over her breath. She gave a sharp sigh and smiled at him. "Do you remember when we worked together in the same agency?"

"Yea, it was when we first met, Madam Setsuki partnered us together a lot." They were only partners for a few months before he went solo. Most of their missions were undercover because people didn't know who they were.

"Right, it was a lot of fun. But do you remember when we had to go to that party to find that elusive villain?" She squirmed again, shifting her legs the slightest bit before settling down in the exact same position.

He squinted his eyes and tried to recall that night. He remembered it, he remembered almost getting caught before finding their target and beating the crap out of him and almost getting caught on the way out. But it had been a successful mission. "Yea, we almost got caught a few times, and you were wearing a bow-tie."

"Yep! That's the one." She snapped her fingers at him a smile lightening up her face. And do you remember why we didn't get caught?"

"Which time?"

Her smile vanished and she let out a groan. "I should have figured it wouldn't even register with you. I mean you did it so casually."

"Did what?"

"Kiss me!"

"I kissed you?"

"Yes!"

"When?"

"During the mission!"

"Why?"

Emi groaned and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you must have been watching a spy movie or something, because we were about to get caught and you grabbed my face and basically said, people are uncomfortable with public displays of affection, and before I could figure out what was going on your tongue was using my tonsil as a punching bag."

"Oh," Now he remembered. He just thought that was part of the mission. "Sorry about that, it was-"

"Don't apologize for that." She bit her lip, her cheeks stained red and she rolled her shoulders. "I understand why you did it after I got over the shock. But I couldn't get that kiss out of my mind. I still can't. I felt something then, and before I knew it I realized I had a thing for you."

"So, you like me because I kissed you randomly during a mission as a cover story?" He asked mostly to himself.

Emi nodded, her face all but glowing red. "Yea, I mean I liked you before you were a good partner and-"

He couldn't help it. She wasn't using her quirk, but he felt like laughing. It wasn't at her, it wasn't with her, it was at himself. At his own stupidity for not realizing what he had done. And for never taking the time to talk to Emi about this before. His laughter died after a few moments.

"Wow," Emi gave a short laugh of her own, smiling at him with a peculiar look on her face. "I understand why you don't laugh more, it could make any girl fall for you."

Odd, a joke like that would have annoyed him weeks ago. But now, it made him smile, put him at ease, and just left him feeling happy. He liked his life as it was now, with Eri and Emi being a big part of his life outside of work. And, maybe there was something to what Emi was talking about.

Part of him had accepted what was going to happen next, but even so, the words surprised him.

"Do you want to try kissing again?" He asked placing down his tea not daring to look her in the eyes.

"What did you say?" She asked looking over at him wide eyes and an even wider smile. She pushed a bit of her light green hair back behind her ears and moved forward just the smallest bit. "I'm not hearing things right?"

"You said you felt something during that kiss." It must have been five years ago at this point, he barely remembered it. He breathed and looked at her, she bit her lip and sat her cup down. "I want to see if I can feel it."

"Okay, hold still." She leaned forward, placing a hand down on the couch between them and stalked forward. It was like watching a predator slowly stalk its prey. Her hands were warm as she touched him, her eyes unflinching as she stared at him. Her face was close.

He closed his eyes.

And felt her lips touch his. A spark ran through him. If it could be called a spark. It was more like a rush, that same rush he got when he was taking in a villian, but different very different. His heart was racing and he felt himself get lost in the simple act.

The kiss stopped, and he opened his eyes to see Emi looking at him, her lips parted. She shifted closer and touched his face kissing him again, this time with more force more eagerness. And he found it easy to return that eagerness. He grabbed her shoulder, her force and the lack of support caused them to fall back.

Their kiss ended again and Emi pushed up off of him wiping her mouth as she smiled. "Did you feel it?"

"Still am." He muttered sitting up with her, his fingers touching his lips. He could still feel it lingering. "It was nice."

"Glad you think so. The spark was still there for me but, I think it's gotten more intense." She laughed, pulling up one knee to the couch and rested her head on it. "So, I have a crazy plan. And no, I'm not joking."

"Okay, what is it?" He found himself unable to look away from her, unable to process what he was feeling.

"So, I've basically been pretending to be your wife and Eri's mom since you asked me to spend time with her. I know it's sappy to say but I really do like the girl. So my plan is simple. We skip the whole dating thing. I know that you don't want to go out and dance or something, so it'd be pointless and we skip right to going steady. You let me move in, and we try this whole domestic thing." She kept her eyes locked onto his the whole time, her smile was consistent and didn't falter once. She meant what she was saying.

She laughed and pushed back her hair once more. "Besides, I kind of want to hear Eri call me mom."

He sighed looking down at his hands. It sounded good. It sounded perfect even. He found himself wanting just that. There were no rules about staff seeing each other, just no public displays of affection and his students were already teasing him about Emi coming over all the time.

"What if it doesn't work out?"

"What if it does?" She stood and held out a hand to him. "Don't you think it's worth a shot Shota? I finally got you to kiss me and take me seriously, I'm not going to let this go easily you know."

He took her hand and stood with her. "I guess you'll have to change your hero name then."

"Eh, why's that?" She raised an eyebrow still smiling up at him.

"Well, it's Ms. Joke right now, so you might have to change it to Mrs. Joke."

Emi gasped and swatted him in the chest. "You goofball that comes like when we get married!"

**AN: Writing this gave me a cavity.**

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You do you.


	6. Chapter 6

"I must admit, I was expecting minor improvements." The large bear shook his entire body as he pulled at the collar of his suit that was so tight it pushed up the fur around his neck. Teddy smiled, or at least what passed for a smile on a bears face and tapped his papers once against the table. Furniture for 1st graders was ever so slightly larger than furniture for kindergarteners "But, I can see that Eri has made leaps and strides these past six months. She's social, everybody in her class gets along with her, the only complaint the teachers have is that she loves telling jokes now, even in the middle of class."

Shota shot a glance to Emi who was sitting beside him, smiling like nothing was wrong with that. The corruption had been complete, Eri was now at least part social butterfly. All thanks to Emi's influence. "So she'll be allowed to stay?"

"Most certainly. With a report like this I'll be under investigation for bribery!" The bear gave a deep throaty chuckle that was closer to a growl than anything. With a sigh he pawed at his eyes pushing his comically small glasses to the side. "But in all seriousness, I'll be pushing to give you more breathing room might even be able to drop these meetings down to something more annual."

"That sounds great," he felt his eyes widen at the idea, just knowing that Eri was considered well enough to not have to be monitored so closely, it brought the smallest smile to his face. Emi elbowed him in the side and winked at him. She always did when he was smiling.

"Through, I will have to add in my report, something about her current living situation," Teddy turned his entire head to look at Emi, then back towards him, before looking towards his paper, his fat thumbed paw expertly handling his pen. "I understand that it is because of Ms. Joke here that Emi was able to come out of her shell like this. So I need to ask, how permanent is this arrangement?"

Before he could even think of an answer Emi responded.

"Oh, we're engaged," Emi waved her hand and wiggled her fingers, like she was showing off a ring. Then she gasped and looked at her own hand in mock shock. "Oh, sorry, I always forget to wear the ring, I don't wear it at work for various reasons. Oh! But we're getting married next summer when we both have the time off."

They weren't engaged, and he didn't remember anything about a ring.

She grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a half hug before kissing him on the cheek. "Our family is small but it's filled with happiness and never ending laughter."

"Haha, is that so, well congratulations are in order! With Eri in such a loving household surrounded by aspiring heroes I have no doubt that she will continue to develop wonderfully." Teddy slapped his massive knee with a noise that sounded like two pillows crashing into each other.

"Oh, but we do have one question." Emi pulled away sitting back in her own seat and smiling. "Can we adopt Eri?"

"Most certainly, just as soon as you two get married the government would be more than happy to allow you to adopt Eri. I'm afraid engagement isn't going to cut it for them." Teddy pushed on his glasses. "Still, I can prepare and mail you the forms in a few days, you'll have my approval, as well as that of my supervisor."

"That's great!" Emi pulled him up. "Thank you so much Mr. Teddy, and stay away from little blond girls that eat too much."

"Ha! I married one of them and now have three daughters!"

XXXX

"So, crazy idea," Emi, hummed as they made their way to pick Eri up. She was even happier than normal, it was the kind of happy that used to annoy him, but now it just felt normal. He guessed that meant it wasn't any happier than normal, after dating Emi for a few months it was even starting to spread to him.

"You want to elope tonight and adopt Eri?"

She stopped dead in her tracks, and grabbed his arm, her green eyes were wide and filled with that chaotic energy he didn't know his life had been missing. "Yes actually, wow have we gotten to the point in our relationship where we can read each other's minds?"

"No, you're just easy to read." He hummed looking towards the playground where Eri was playing with some of her friends. It still seemed like a miracle. It was coming close to a year since she was rescued, this progress barely felt real.

Emi pouted, letting go of his arm she took a few steps forward, placing on hand over her mouth as she shouted. "Eri! We're here to take you home."

"Kay, mom!" Eri's shout could barely be heard over the shouts of the other kids. Eri hugged one of her friends Mimi goodbye and ran around talking to others as she made her way over to her stuff.

Emi turned to him and smiled like that was the first time Eri had called her that. The first time happened over a week ago. And it had happened seven times since. That was why he knew Emi wanted to adopt Eri as soon as possible. "See?"

He nodded and sighed shifting on his feet. The idea wasn't bad. As things were right now he didn't want them to change. He enjoyed Eri coming home excited about school, the subtle joy that she brought to his life something else. And Emi being so close to him, so passionate, so attentive, so serious, and so cute all the time made him realize what he had been missing. There was something special about waking up each morning to find the two of them in his life ready and waiting for him.

Maybe marrying Emi, was the next step. She had officially moved in after all. And they hadn't slept in separate beds for the past month. Try as he might to dredge up that old weary resentment he had for her, it just wasn't there anymore.

To change Eri they had both changed. Or maybe he was just looking to far into it and Emi had just wormed her way into his heart like a parasite and now removing her would kill him.

"Dad! Mom!" Eri, ran up to them, her red backpack swaying violently from side to side as she did her best impression of Mirio's run. "You're both here!"

"Yep!" Emi shouted taking one of Eri's hands. "Your dad and I both missed you so much, we both had to come."

"That's right," he took Eri's other hand and they began to walk in tandem, Eri half jumping every third step.

His life right now, was pretty good.

XXXX

A week later, they eloped. Emi wore a white dew rag for the whole day.

A month and Eri was officially their daughter.

A year and Eri had a new baby brother.

**AN: Ending! Yay! Hope you all enjoyed this super sweet fic, there was supposed to be lemon but really it was to wholesome to include it. So now we have this. Hope you all enjoyed.**

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